


Memoria

by academyofbrokenhearts



Category: Rebelde Way
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 08:59:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15263982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/academyofbrokenhearts/pseuds/academyofbrokenhearts
Summary: What if Manuel would have grown the fuck up post-surgery and would have ended up actually making amends with Mia as opposed to simply showing up in the last episode and apologising in a cheap manner? Rebelde Way AU, one-shot. Obviously, I don't own the characters.





	Memoria

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a discussion I had with Delitheunicorn - thank you, love.

After he wakes up, he is able to recognise only one face. Pablo. And that's scary as fuck.

He doesn't remember anything else, except that he used to be in a band with this guy he identifies as Pablo. Other than that, everything is a blur.

But even with all the confusion, the blonde girl with long hair attracts his attention. She looks so beautiful, but also incredibly sad, and he finds himself wondering who is she, and whether they were close before the surgery.

He eventually finds out her name - Mia - and the fact that they were classmates and bandmates. However, he is unable to remember more, and he feels extremely frustrated, so he ends up isolating himself from everyone.

But she breaks his confinement by disguising herself as a nurse. She brings him some photos, and he feels it's useless, because he still cannot remember a thing, even with all of her explanations.

However, he feels inspired to keep trying.

* * *

He finds out he had a girlfriend - or at least someone he loved very much, but no one had told him who is this mysterious girl. This is why when he remembers the name "Sabrina", he is eager to contact Mia and ask her who that person is.

But Mia doesn't answer the question, and instead he hears another voice screaming in his year that Sabrina is a cow. And then the tone.

He knows he did something very wrong, but he has no idea what.

* * *

Eventually, Mia does tell him that his lover was Lujan, a girl who is not at the school anymore. He feels relieved, because by now, he knows that he has feelings for Mia, but he's not sure how to tell her. Why would she want to date someone like him, after all? She is beautiful, smart and compassionate; she could date anyone in the school if she wanted.

When he finally kisses her, it feels so right. Like they were made for each other - and yes, he's well aware that this sounds like the most horrible cliché in the world, but he doesn't care.

He confesses his feelings, hoping that she might reciprocate, but she rejects him. She doesn't believe in love, she says. She used to believe when she was younger - but not anymore. She does not want to date, she has other things in her mind.

And then she leaves, and he feels like his whole world is crumbling.

He's such an idiot that he didn't even notice the gleam of hope in her eyes when she had asked him if he remembered.

He's so much of an idiot that he doesn't notice the way she hugs him right before his planned departure for the airport, where the plane is waiting to take him to Mexico.

It all makes sense on the way towards the airport.

She must be the one - the girl whom he loved, and who loved him back, and he really wants to punch himself for not realising it before.

He asks Pablo if it's true, and his friend cannot lie to him; he confirms, then quickly asks Manuel if he remembered something.

"I didn't," Manuel answers, "but I want to."

The plane leaves Argentina without him.

* * *

Everyone is overjoyed to have him back. Mia doesn't say anything - she just stays away and cries quietly. Pablo asks him if he will tell her that he returned for her. "Not yet," is the answer.

Later that day, Franco, Mia's father, calls and asks Manuel if he wants to have his mother and sister visit instead.

Manuel thanks him and says that Franco has already done way too much for him. He really misses his mother and sister, that's right, but he doesn't want them to see him like that. "Maybe they can come see me graduate, if I'm well enough by then. In the meantime, I can call them, so that they won't be worried."

He starts working with a therapist shortly after.

* * *

The memories start to come back slowly.

In the beginning, they make no sense whatsoever. Some of them feel really nightmarish, like that time when he was captured by some creepy guys wearing strange hoodies. But it's all true. That really happened, and Manuel feels like a hero when he listens to the whole story as told by Marcos and Pablo.

Other memories are really pleasant, such as the time he saw Mia in the school corridor in her gym wear for the first time. He knows that it was their first encounter without being told.

He hopes he will remember everything shortly.

She doesn't know exactly how much progress he had made. He doesn't share his memories about her with anyone, as he wants her to be the first to know when he will finally remember their whole story.

He would be really content to be her friend. She really needs friends; he is always willing to listen to her, but she keeps her distance.

He doesn't try to kiss her anymore.

* * *

When he finally remembers who Sabrina is, he wants to die.

* * *

His memories are still not entirely recovered; the months right before the surgery are foggy.

But he knows enough to have an honest conversation with Mia, and therefore he asks her to meet him in the recreation area, after classes. She looks surprised (he didn't talk to her in the last couple of weeks at all), but she accepts.

He had toyed with the idea of not telling her anything. It would have been so much easier for her if he would have left Argentina forever after graduation. But then - he already robbed her of so many things. He just couldn't take her agency again. She deserved to know the truth and to decide for herself whether she would forgive him or not.

Because right now it's her forgiveness he wants, not her love.

He feels he's not worthy of her love.

Mia arrives a bit earlier than scheduled.

"Okay, Manuel, I'm here, what did you want to talk about?"

He looks up to her, and in that very moment, he forgets everything he had planned to tell her.

He just crumbles and starts to sob in front of her.

"I'm... I’m sorry..."

"Oh, Manuel... don’t be sorry," she pleads. "None of this is your fault."

"Everything... everything is my fault," he answers through tears. "I ruined everything, Mia. We had... we had the most beautiful thing in the world, and I completely ruined it, because I... I was not willing to wait."

She freezes.

"What do you mean?"

He wipes his eyes and tries to calm down. He is not supposed to cry. He does not want her to pity him, he doesn't deserve her pity, just as he doesn't deserve her love.

"I know it's you," he continues quietly, unable to look her in the eye. "I've guessed it was you back when I was supposed to leave for Mexico. That's why I couldn't leave. I asked Pablo if it was true, and he said it was. But I didn't tell you, because I wanted to remember. I wanted it so badly. And I did. Most of it... the important things. But I also remembered..."

"Sabrina."

Mia's voice is shaking.

"Yes," he admits.

"Do you... do you still love her?"

Surprised, Manuel looks at her.

She's not crying, but she looks sad, and this reminds him of a different afternoon, that afternoon when she had told him she didn't want to be with him anymore, because she could not trust him anymore, and he feels like he never hated himself so much.

"No, no, I don't love her, I never did, I only ever loved you."

"But not enough," Mia says.

It pains him so much, but she is right.

"Not enough," he admits, trembling. "Not as I love you now. I didn't see the real you. I didn't take your desires into consideration. I thought I knew best, because I was older than you. I was so fucking selfish. And even after we broke up... it was still like I hadn't learned anything. I had to have my fucking head cut in order to understand. I'm pathetic. I'm sorry. So sorry. None of this was your fault, Mia."

Her eyes are slowly filling with tears.

"I was so afraid you were going to die," she whispers. "So afraid for you."

And then she embraces him, and he closes his eyes, breathing in her scent, wanting to capture the moment forever in his memory, so that no accident or disease could ever steal it from him.

"What will happen to us now?" she asks, but the question is futile.

There's only one possible answer, and they both know what it is.


End file.
